Apple has already ordered A10 chips for iPhone 7

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Consumers around the world are preparing for the release of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus on September 25, but it seems Apple has already moved on and is looking forward to the iPhone 7. That makes sense, as 12 months isn’t really all that long when you’re trying to design, source parts, test, and manufacture millions of units of a brand new hardware device to a deadline.

So, while the 6s pre-orders are being logged and stock being shipped out to stores, Apple has apparently already started placing orders for iPhone 7 parts. The first is for the A10 system on a chip (SoC) that will sit at the smartphone’s heart. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has secured an exclusive supply contract for the A10 chip, which will be a 16nm part.

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are expected to launch in September 2016. TSMC is contracted to start volume production of the A10 chip beginning in March 2016. That should allow plenty of time (problems not withstanding) for Apple to have enough stock for the launch. At the same time, TSMC is thought to be handling half of all A9 chip production currently.

In the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, Apple introduced the A9 SoC to replace the A8 used in the iPhone 6. Apple claims this new chip brings with it 70% more processor performance combined with 90% more graphical performance. The A10 will be expected to build on that, improving both the general processing and graphical performance even further. There’s bound to be some additional features, too, for example, the A9 includes a new image processor.

For now, everyone outside of Apple’s hardware department will be focused on pushing the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. If it delivers on those performance improvements then it’s certainly going to be very popular, especially considering Apple also decided to include a long overdue RAM upgrade from 1GB to 2GB.